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Psalm 138 (LXX 137) - Before the Angels I Will Sing

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This narration is from a previous version of the study. The text on this page is current.

Psalm 138 is a Psalm of whole-hearted thanksgiving, not shallow gratitude for an easy life. The singer praises before the angels because the Lord has heard, gives strength to the soul, regards the lowly, and saves by His right hand. Theodoret hears Israel’s thanksgiving after return from Babylon; the Church also receives the prayer as her own. Augustine calls its thanksgiving a confession of praise, while Theodoret sees the nations and their rulers hearing the Gospel after the Incarnation.

Psalm 138 (LXX 137) - Before the Angels I Will Sing

Psalm Metadata

FieldNotes
NKJV / Masoretic numberingPsalm 138
Septuagint / Coptic numberingPsalm 137
Accepted authorDavid in the Hebrew tradition. Brenton’s LXX superscription reads, “A Psalm for David, of Aggaeus and Zacharias.”
Period in author’s lifeNo precise Davidic episode is named. The LXX heading points to the prophetic post-exilic period, and Theodoret interprets the Psalm as thanksgiving after the return from Babylon and help against hostile nations.
Christ prophecy statusTypological and ecclesial by fulfillment. The kings of the earth hearing God’s words and singing in His ways opens toward the Gospel going to the nations. Christ is the saving right hand and the One through whom the Church sings before the angels.
Coptic lectionary/service useThe consulted references preserve printed Psalm 138 in Agpeya nighttime prayer, Palm Sunday procession, Great Lent, Holy Fifty Days, and annual fixed-date references.
Numbering issueThis note embeds Brenton LXX Psalm 137. The consulted references cited here preserve printed Psalm 138 references, so the project title and local lectionary layer match the printed Psalm number while the embedded LXX text is Psalm 137.

Historical and Scriptural Context

The Hebrew tradition associates the Psalm with David; no particular episode of his life is named. The received LXX heading also names Aggaeus and Zacharias, forms of Haggai and Zechariah, who encouraged temple rebuilding after the return from exile. That association invites a restoration setting, but the heading alone does not establish when the Psalm was composed.

Theodoret interprets it as the thanksgiving of the returned people after God helped them against enemies. His own Psalm heading names David, not the two prophets. He goes on to hear the praise of kings in the light of the Incarnation and the preaching of the Gospel.1

The Psalm moves from one worshiper’s thanksgiving to royal praise: the singer worships toward the temple, asks for strength in the soul, calls on kings to praise, and trusts God’s hand in affliction. The Church can take its final plea for the works of God’s hands as a prayer for the people and the souls He has made.

Geographical Significance ⛰️

The Psalm’s central geography is the temple and the nations. The worshiper faces the holy temple, but the praise is not trapped there. It is offered before the angels and reaches toward the kings of the earth.

Augustine reads the temple spiritually: “There is a Church below, there is a Church above also; the Church below, in all the faithful; the Church above, in all the Angels.”2 The earthly Church sings in communion with the heavenly Church. The Psalm is not private inspiration only; it is liturgical communion.

🕯️ Light from the Word

Psalm 137:1-3, whole-hearted confession before the angels

137:1 A Psalm for David, of Aggæus and Zacharias. I will give thee thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; and I will sing psalms to thee before the angels; for thou hast heard all the words of my mouth.
137:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and give thanks to thy name, on account of thy mercy and thy truth; for thou hast magnified thy holy name above every thing.
137:3 In whatsoever day I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily; thou shalt abundantly provide me with thy power in my soul.

Brenton says “give thee thanks.” Augustine, using the vocabulary of his own text, calls this a confession of praise. Confession to God, he explains, may mean praise as well as acknowledgment of sin.3 The first movement here is thanksgiving to the God who hears.

“Before the angels” gives worship its horizon. Augustine writes: “My song is my joy; but my joy in things below is before men, my joy in things above before the Angels.”4 The invitation is not to perform an emotion or measure another person’s joy, but to turn toward God rather than seek an audience for ourselves.

In Theodoret’s reading, the returned people see both mercy in their rescue and truth in God’s judgment against wrongdoing.1 The singer’s request continues beyond relief: hear me, and give power in my soul. We may ask for changed circumstances and also for strength to meet them.

Athanasius describes the Psalter as giving people words they can make their own in prayer. Gregory of Nyssa sees psalmody as a way of forming the soul toward virtue and blessedness. These are teachings about the Psalter as a whole, not direct commentaries on each line of this Psalm.5

Psalm 137:4-6, the kings of the earth and the Lord who regards the lowly

137:4 Let all the kings of the earth, O Lord, give thanks unto thee; for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.
137:5 And let them sing in the ways of the Lord; for great is the glory of the Lord.
137:6 For the Lord is high, and yet regards the lowly; and he knows high things from afar off.

The song widens from one thankful heart to all kings of the earth. They hear God’s words and are invited to sing in His ways. Theodoret connects this with rulers hearing the Gospel after the Incarnation, while also reading the Psalm in relation to Israel’s deliverance.1

The kings are not called to use God as an ornament for power. Augustine writes: “the more exalted kings are in earthly eminence, the more ought they to humble themselves before God.”6 Greatness is safe only when it bows. The Lord is high, yet He regards the lowly; pride does not escape His knowledge, but places the proud far from the nearness they need.7

Leaders, parents, priests, servants, directors, and teachers can hear this as a call to accountable service. Influence can become a place of worship or a place of exile from God.

Psalm 137:7-8, affliction, the right hand, and the works of God’s hands

137:7 Though I should walk in the midst of affliction, thou wilt quicken me; thou hast stretched forth thine hands against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand has saved me.
137:8 O Lord, thou shalt recompense them on my behalf: thy mercy, O Lord, endures for ever: overlook not the works of thine hands.

The Psalm does not promise a life without affliction. It promises life in the middle of affliction. Augustine names what enemies can do: “They can take my money, strip, proscribe, banish me; afflict me with grief and tortures; at last, if they be allowed, even kill me: can they do aught more?”8 His confidence is not bodily invulnerability, but that enemies cannot separate the faithful from God.

The right hand is God’s saving action. Christians hear it also in relation to Christ, the power and wisdom of God, who saves His Body. Theodoret distinguishes God’s judgment against evil from His gracious action toward the rescued.9

Brenton’s next clause says that the Lord will recompense the enemies on the singer’s behalf. Augustine first reads this as entrusting vindication to God rather than taking revenge, recalling Romans 12:19. He then offers another reading: Christ repays on our behalf what He did not owe.10 Theodoret, in a distinct reading, moves from our inability to repay God’s kindness to the Incarnation: the Creator takes human nature and pays humanity’s debt. He relates this to Colossians 2:14.9 Neither reading asks a person to submit to abuse. Seek protection, support, and just help when threatened.

Finally, “overlook not the works of thine hands” is a prayer against despair: You made us; do not abandon what Your hands have made. Philippians 1:6 is a companion to that hope in God’s continuing work, not a replacement for the Psalm’s preceding words about recompense.11

The Church’s Voice in Worship 📖

The retained Book of Agpeya prints the whole Psalm, without its superscription, in both the Twelfth Hour and Midnight Prayer Third Watch. Its wording and verse divisions differ from Brenton. In these hours the whole prayer can guide gratitude, examination, humility, and trust in God’s mercy.

The retained printed Palm Sunday procession places a selection at Station 1, Main Sanctuary, not the main Liturgy. It labels the Psalm verses 104:4 and 138:1, with Coptic numbers 103 and 137. The actual selection joins Psalm 103:4 to the words about singing before the angels and worshiping toward the temple, corresponding to Brenton 137:1b and 2a. The station Gospel is John 1:43-51, where Jesus speaks of angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man; it is not an entry narrative.

For the Friday of the fifth week of Great Lent, the dated Liturgy witness for March 20, 2026 prints Psalm 138:1 and 2. Its words select the opening thanksgiving and praise, then temple worship, mercy, and truth; they do not include the inward-strength verse 3. The Gospel reference is John 8:21-27.

For Tuesday of the seventh week of the Holy Fifty Days, the May 26, 2026 Matins witness prints only the opening clauses of Psalm 138:1, with Luke 6:12-16. A working local cycle also retains a verse 3 reference for that Tuesday. It should not be added to the dated selection or taken as proof of a separate Pentecost-feast appointment.

The dated English witnesses for Hatur 24 Matins on December 3, 2026 and Kiyahk 22 Liturgy on December 31, 2026 select the opening of verse 1 and the temple-worship opening of verse 2. Their Gospel references are Matthew 12:1-8 and Luke 1:26-38, respectively. Baramhat 30 Liturgy has a working local cycle reference to verses 1-2 with Luke 1:26-38; its exact selected English words are not established here.

For Paona 13 Liturgy, the June 20, 2026 English witness is labeled verses 1-3, but selects the singing clause of verse 1, portions of verse 2 including mercy and truth, and only the opening answer in verse 3. Its Gospel reference is Matthew 25:31-46. For Nasie 3 Liturgy, the September 8, 2026 English witness is also labeled verses 1-3 and includes the fuller verse 3; its Gospel reference is Matthew 25:32-46. The working cycle lists verses 1-2 for both dates. None of the four dated English fixed-date excerpts selects the lowly of verse 6.

These are bounded printed or local-cycle witnesses, not a guarantee of the same selection every year. The dated English edition uses “gods” where Brenton has “angels”; the fifth-Friday text has “word” where Brenton has “holy name.” Its verse 3, where selected on the other dates, speaks of an answer; Brenton presents a petition and promise. Gospel references identify the associated readings, not quotations reproduced here.

Iconography Connection 🖼️

Possible teaching images include the heavenly liturgy, Christ entering Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the temple after exile, and Christ Pantocrator surrounded by angels. Let the visual theme be worship joined to humility: the Church below in communion with the Church above, rulers bowing, and the lowly regarded by the high Lord. These are teaching suggestions, not claims about particular artworks.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

  1. Give thanks with the whole heart. Bring to God the gratitude you can offer, and ask His grace to deepen it. Illness, grief, trauma, or exhaustion is not a failure of faith.
  2. Sing before the angels, not for display. Let worship turn toward God rather than become a performance.
  3. Ask for strength in the soul. Pray both for help in circumstances and for inward strength.
  4. Let authority become humility. The higher the role, the more necessary the bow.
  5. Trust the right hand in affliction. Harm is real, but it cannot separate the faithful from God. Seeking safety and help is compatible with trust.
  6. Pray as God’s workmanship. Ask the Lord not to overlook what His hands have made.

Footnotes

  1. Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on Psalm 138, §§1-3; paraphrased from Hill’s English translation. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXXVIII, §3, NPNF, first series, vol. 8. CCEL. ↩

  3. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXXVIII, §1, NPNF, first series, vol. 8. CCEL. ↩

  4. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXXVIII, §2, NPNF, first series, vol. 8. CCEL. ↩

  5. Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus, passages on the Psalter as prayer and a mirror of the soul; Gregory of Nyssa, On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, I.1-3. Both are paraphrased thematic witnesses. ↩

  6. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXXVIII, §7, NPNF, first series, vol. 8. CCEL. ↩

  7. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXXVIII, §9, NPNF, first series, vol. 8. CCEL. ↩

  8. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXXVIII, §11, NPNF, first series, vol. 8. CCEL. ↩

  9. Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on Psalm 138, §4; paraphrased from Hill’s English translation. ↩ ↩2

  10. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXXVIII, §12, NPNF, first series, vol. 8. CCEL. ↩

  11. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXXVIII, §13, NPNF, first series, vol. 8; compare Philippians 1:6. CCEL. ↩

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